NanuNanu

@Bill in Yokohama One of the most memorable moments in my naval career, and indeed in my life, came as I sailed through the doldrums. Coming off watch at midnight and stepping out onto the weather deck, the ocean was literally as flat and smooth as a sheet of glass, with the full moon shining on it, lighting a fairy path to infinity. Beautiful.

@Morn I think about 99% of people put LYFT first. Some cities don't even have taxis anymore.

@TazTheGreat Fair is whatever gives you enjoyment in solving the puzzle.

@Jane Wheelaghan It is a well-known but poorly understood physical phenomenon: the act of taking a machine apart and putting it together produces screws, apparently materializing them out of nothing. If you need some screws, simply take something apart and put it back together.

@Petrol My, such turgid prose!

@Trevor Too bad, it's actually pretty good puzzle; and once you understand what the constructor is doing, the gimmick actually makes it easier to solve. In fairness, I have seen puzzles where the constructor went way over the line, past clever, past clever-clever to "Hop up and down with one eye closed while twirling your finger around your head and singing the first 20 words of lorem ipsum." But this isn't one of those.

@LarryF My favorite form of pun is the "Tom Swifty": “America has an obesity problem,” Tom said fatuously. “That’s an evergreen,” Tom opined. “I’m going to Vesuvius!” Tom erupted. “It’s just fermented milk,” Tom said cheesily. “OK, you can have it,” Tom exclaimed. “I have a hernia,” Tom said abruptly. “That’s not right,” Tom said obliquely. “I don’t believe that anymore,” Tom expostulated. “We made a wrong turn,” Tom discoursed. “We’re entering the foothills now,” Tom explained. “Hello, Dolly,” Tom said sheepishly. “These are stem cells,” Tom said indifferently. “I gave up writing,” Tom described. “I don’t swear anymore,” Tom discussed. “Let me touch on just one point,” Tom said tangentially.

@lucky13 "Round" can refer to general shape, and does not necessarily mean perfectly circular. We say that the Earth is round, or that a person has a round face.

@Solver I have, many times - different experiences, that's all.

@lucky13 "Heighth" is not a word, any more than "supposably", "acrossed", "nucular", "athalete", or "realitor". It is not a legitimate variant, it is simply a mispronunciation. People confuse it with constructions such as "length" and "breadth" and "width" - thank you, English language.

@Andrzej Our chief weapon is wordplay, wordplay and misdirection; our two chief weapons are misdirection and wordplay, and ruthless - three. Our three chief weapons are wordplay and misdirection, and ruthless crossings, and an almost fanatical devotion to obscure abbreviations... I'll come in again.

@Petrol And English - especially American English - in its glorious mishmash inconsistency, chooses to retain it in some words. You pointed out subpoena and phoenix, but also Phoebe, amoeba, Oedipus, and oenology.

@JMF A bit ironic, given the Siam -> Thailand entry.

@Bobby Note: For all non-native English speakers out there, "read" is pronounced like "lead" and "read" is pronounced like "lead"; and while "read" is the past tense of "read", "lead" is not the past tense of "lead". HTH.

@Jenny I've never played the cornet or flugelhorn, but I have played trumpet and I've seen the other two, and they look pretty similar to me. A flugelhorn is a valved brass instrument with a conical bore, closely related to the cornet, and even has the same range as a B-flat cornet. “Similar” doesn't mean “indistinguishable.”

@acjones You say "nobody" with such authority. Everyone has their preferences, but clearly many people enjoyed the puzzle.

@Petrol I wouldn't call that a nit at all, it's an incorrect clue.

@Kate Tani Russian chef - BORSCHT BELT

@Abby Carr All of them? How about: radian mole candela parsec calorie erg bar micron meter gram It's true that many are, but I can't think of any that are three letters long except that ampere is often shortened to amp: volt watt newton tesla gauss joule pascal hertz

@Tim Many foods originate in one place, but become more strongly associated with another, such as tempura, which originated in Portugal but is now considered distinctly Japanese. While churros did originate in Spain, they are more commonly associated with Mexico

@Lewis How about: MAR_ WORLDWITHOUTEND

@Charles I've often said that Peter Sellers was the straight man, and the world was the fall guy; "Being There" is probably the most perfect example of that.

@Lori Not at all; it is imitating the sound of a buzzer used in game shows or other places to indicate a wrong answer, and when spoken is a snarky way to tell someone they're wrong.

@Steve L Nothing is "cheating" unless you're in a competition. If you're simply doing it for your own enjoyment, all's fair – you can challenge yourself as much or as little as you wish.

@LaurenV I originally wrote in LACTICACID for 1A. Hey, it fits!

@Chris Wilt Chamberlain also got MVP four times. Of course, he wouldn't fit - perhaps because he was 4 inches taller than James.

@Lauren Very much a Spanish word, and the phrase "Está bien" can mean "okay" or "no problem", or indicate agreement or acceptance - it's a pretty versatile expression.

@Ess When you are at bat, you're up - it's your time up.

@David I had the same objection at first, until I realized that all the names are in fact in big boxes - as @jas pointed out. What? Puns in a crossword puzzle? I never.

@Alex Yeah, that's something you have to look out for in Spanish: Mi papá tiene muchos años. (My father has many years / is old.) Mi papa tiene muchos anos. (My potato has many buttholes.)

@Andrzej Amazing how Nature works in harmony when allowed to. And we humans, with only a few thousand years of building and engineering experience, seem to think we know better.